Properties of photocatalytically generated oxygen species produced by Ag 2 Se-graphene oxide heterojunction and its application for the visible-light degradation of ammonia

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can be produced by the interactions between sunlight and light-absorbing substances in aqueous environments, and these ROS are capable of destroying various organic pollutants in wastewater. In this study, the photocatalytic degradation of ammonia in petrochemical wastewater was investigated by solar light photocatalysis. We used graphene oxide modified Ag 2 Se nanoparticles to enhance the activity of photochemically generated oxygen (PGO) species. There was a catastrophic decrease in the surface area and pore volume of the Ag 2 Se-graphene oxide (Ag 2 Se-G) samples because of the deposition of Ag 2 Se. The generation of ROS was detected by the oxidation of 1,5- diphenyl carbazide (DPCI) to 1,5-diphenyl carbazone (DPCO). It was revealed that the photocurrent density and PGO effect increased with the graphene oxide modified. The experimental results indicate that this heterogeneous catalyst achieved a degradation of 88.43% under visiblelight irradiation. The NH 3 degradation product was N 2 and neither NO 2− nor NO 3− were detected.